Belancē now has a permanent Melbourne residence.
Creative Director Oscar Leal’s custom tailoring label has set up shop within an enviable loft space overlooking Hardware Lane – once home to 1920’s saddle-maker Farrant’s built upon the site of Kirk’s Horse Bazaar. Oscar says, “The first day I walked in, I fell in love with the space.” Same, tbh.
Stop in (by appointment) to view impossibly feather-light overcoats, jackets with waved lapels and a cluster of vintage gold pins that Oscar has gathered alongside his mission to ensure people “care about menswear”. The collection is accented by works from Australian creatives: bulbous glass-blown sculptures by Laura de Carteret, spontaneous portraits by Stone Pitt that the artist describes as “emotional”, feature lighting by Flos and weighty benches by Unrivalled Stone.
They are serving a splash of 1800 Tequila Milenio at fittings; a nifty change from the more expected whiskey. And, in a toast to the occasion, Oscar has collaborated with the bartenders at Maison Bâtard (recently crowned the nation’s Best Restaurant), mere blocks away.
Together, they’ve created a limited-time–only cocktail – the ‘Made To Measure’; a crystal clear concoction of 1800 Cristalino añejo Tequila, peche, raspberry and coconut – which stretches the concept of an Old Fashioned to its seams. It will be mixed up at the Maison’s Le Club and La Terrasse this September only.
/ Belancē’s The Melbourne Loft / Level 2, 387 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
Photography by Consumer Creative.
